In this blog entry, the professional Chicago roadside assistance and Chicago heavy duty towing service team here at Towing Chicago will detail the main signs and symptoms of vehicle alternator issues.
Category Archives: Vehicle Break Downs
Catalytic converters are essential pieces of automotive equipment that need to properly operate for a vehicle to safely drive – and are now, more than ever, a major target of automotive equipment thieves. In this blog entry, the Chicagoland towing service experts here at Towing Chicago will detail the important things you need to know about catalytic converters.
If you suddenly find your car with an empty gas tank while driving, you may wind up stranded – in which case, you can be rescued by contacting a reputable towing service like Towing Chicago. However, if you absolutely need to get to your destination that’s only a few miles away, here’s a guide to making the most of a nearly empty gas tank.
While many people are aware of the necessity of performing vehicle maintenance before a cold Winter, very few people understand the importance of sprucing up your vehicles during the normal Spring cleaning period to get them ready for the hot Summer. The damage that a cold, icy, and snowy Winter – as well as a rainy and wet Spring – can cause to vehicles can really cause issues when driving in the Summer. Here’s some essential maintenance actions that you should tackle in order to get your car up to par before the Summer, as prepared by the towing experts at Towing Chicago.
Drivers of semi trucks are perhaps the most at risk drivers out there; this is due to the massive size of semi trucks, and the unique difficulty in delicately maneuvering these giant metal beasts. Semi trucks are more vulnerable to mechanical issues that affect smaller sedan style cars much less commonly – and when they break down, it really sucks for the driver, since they commonly are towing cargo with a specific delivery time. Here’s a guide, as prepared by the truck towing experts at Towing Chicago, as to the most common causes of semi truck roadside breakdown that we respond to.
If you’re the proud owner of a motorcycle you understand the importance of maintenance. There’s a few aspects of motorcycles that need to be regularly checked to ensure that your bike will continue efficiently running. Here’s a guide to the essentials of the potential issues with your motorcycle you need to regularly check up on for optimal performance, as prepared by the motorcycle towing experts at Towing Chicago.
Here at Chicago Towing we have been helping to rescue people from stalled cars or car breakdowns for years. In this brief blog post our experts will detail what some of the most common breakdown causes are, so you can be better prepared.
Flat Batteries
If your battery is faulty it’s poor electrical connections will cause breakdowns. Whenever you get your car serviced, have the garage make sure to check the battery connections for secure placement, as well for evidence of corrosion or battery acid leaking. If you don’t often make long car journeys, your battery wouldn’t have charged too much – try charging it overnight around every 2 weeks to keep it running longer.
Key Loss
If your car keys are lost, you won’t be able to restart it which is an issue when parked at home but especially when you’re in the middle of a car trip on the road. If you lose your key, contact an authorized expert locksmith technician who can help furnish you a brand new working key.
Tire Damage
Make sure to check your tire depth tread, and if they are worn unevenly, the wheels could be misaligned. Make sure that your spare wheel has tread and is fully inflated and ready for use. If you use a car jack, make sure it’s in good condition before going on the road, as well as any wheel removal or installation tools, and a lockable wheel nut adapter. If you are driving with heavy loads, make sure to adjust your tire pressure to the change in the weight of your vehicle – look in your car handbook for custom instructions on how to do so.
Alternator Issues
If you have constant battery issues and your headlights dim when your engine is idle, it will likely be an issue with your car’s alternator. If the ignition warning light comes on and the temperature of the engine heats up quickly, the alternator and water pump belt could be broken, which is a very serious and dangerous issue. If this is happening, stop and turn off your engine and call a licensed towing company.
Clutch Cables
If your clutch cables are under major stress they can break, causing major problems. You can notice if this is an issue if you feel the clutch feels different when the pedal is pressed. If the clutch cable breaks, make sure to pull over and give an expert towing company a call.
High Tension Leads
High tension leads carry electricity to the spark plugs, but they can decay with age, making it really hard to start up your car. It can help to use dampness-repellent sprays like WD-40, but it really is the best thing to do to contact an expert car repair company to look over the entire ignition system to test to see if they can solve any of the problems.
You can imagine that as towing experts, we’ve seen our fair share of awful on-road automobile breakdowns. There’s multiple factors that could cause a driver to need to pull over on the side of the road to contact a licensed towing company; in this brief blog post, the experts at Chicago Towing will detail some of the most worst types of breakdowns.
Battery Issues
Most car batteries should last between 3 and 5 years, but this can be highly shortened if you often drive in extreme temperatures. To avoid getting stranded by your battery, make sure to check your battery every time you get your car checked at a mechanic or dealers, especially if the battery is less than 3 years old. You can spot automobile battery issues when your headlights or interior car lights dim, or your windows are reacting more slowly than beautiful.
Getting Locked Out
This situation really sucks because it’s completely preventable, Make sure to get a spare set of keys copied, and keep them outside your car inside your home or office. If you’re going on a long car journey, make sure to give a pair of the spare keys to another person that you’re traveling with, so if you lose your pair of keys, you’ll have another one readily available.
Engine Issues
These issues most commonly are caused by issues like broken coolant leaking hoses, which in turn cause an engine to overheat. You can inspect hoses and belts by inspecting them for any peeling, cracks, or softening. Make sure to check out transmission and auto fluid levels, with an item similar to a dipstick. You can also prevent engine issues by monitoring your gas mileage on a monthly basis, and if the mileage suddenly drops, it’s likely an engine issue.
Transmission
A sudden drop in mileage could also be due to transmission issues. It’s harder these days to find transmission issues in contemporary modern cars, and what was once easy to spot as a broken transmission might now be revealed to be caused by software or sensor hardware. If you feel a weird jerking or slip when you place automatic transmission in gear, make sure to check out the car’s transmission, and make sure that your mechanic or dealer checks all your fluid during any type of maintenance, especially the transmission fluid.
Brake Problems
Almost no part of the car is more essential for safety than the car’s brakes. Make sure that the brake rotors and pads get check twice a year. The brake fluid should be changed between every 2 and 3 years, depending on the specifications laid out in your car manual. If you pull over to one side when you hit the brakes, hear a grinding or squeaking motion, or your brake pedal feels soft you need to get your brake issues fixed ASAP.
Some of the most common equipment that requires heavy hauling is heavy machinery or construction equipment. While many companies have their own hauling equipment, lots of others don’t, or perhaps they need to use their hauling equipment for another big project.
Regardless of the project where it’s implemented, heavy hauling is a difficult and technically complex job. The kind of equipment that requires heavy hauling is expensive and delicate, despite its extreme weight. Due to the extreme value of this equipment, and the magnitude of the job’s complexity, it’s totally necessary to hire a professional hauling company. It’s of major importance that they are trustworthy, and have the necessary experience and expertise to safely finish the haul without causing any damage to the vehicle.
Experience with Heavy Hauling
When you’re transporting extremely heavy and large equipment, the haul’s route should be determined in advance. There’s many detailed aspects to the ride that absolutely need to be considered, including the height of overpasses. Both equipment and even the overpass could be damaged, which could not only result in heavy costs but also put people’s lives at risk. There will be many potential obstacles including weight limits on roads and bridges. A truly professional hauling company will know exactly how to find and expertly navigate the best route to haul out the equipment to it’s rightful destination.
